Isaiah 40.12-17, 21-31, Psalm 21, Luke 22.24-30
The Fifth Sunday of Easter, Sunday 7 May 2023, Eldroth
Yesterday in Westminster Abbey The King was greeted by a young chorister of the Chapel Royal, who said, ‘Your Majesty, as children of the Kingdom of God we welcome you in the name of the King of Kings.’ To which Charles replied, ‘In his name, and after his example, I come not to be served but to serve.’ [2]
There was an unprecedented symbolic opening, quite different to any previous Coronation. First, for the monarch to be greeted by a child, a representative of innocence and powerlessness, whereas in the past it would have been the most supreme Churchman, the Archbishop, who would have taken this role. Then, for the child, whilst calling Charles ‘Your Majesty’, then introducing themselves as ‘children of the Kingdom of God’ and welcoming Charles ‘in the name of the King of Kings’… establishing from the very start of the service that in their view, whilst they accept Charles’s kingship their eyes are on another and greater King, God himself.
This welcome was designed to be humbling for the King - but by no means humiliating. For throughout the service he - and everyone present - acknowledged the supremacy of our Father God before all else; and in The King’s Prayer Charles asked for God’s help - to be a servant of all God’s children, saying,
God of compassion and mercy whose Son was sent not to be served but to serve, give grace that I may find in thy service perfect freedom and in that freedom knowledge of thy truth. Grant that I may be a blessing to all thy children, of every faith and conviction, that together we may discover the ways of gentleness and be led into the paths of peace. through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The notion of the monarch being a servant of the people is also unprecedented. There was nothing in Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation liturgy of 1953 to imply that the monarch was at the service of the people. Whilst the people were urged to do “their true service to God and to our Sovereign”, and the monarch was to be established with “a princely spirit . . . of wisdom and government” and set over the people, nowhere was it explicitly articulated that being the monarch is a ministry of public service. [3]
But the idea of the monarch being the people’s servant was well established by the late Queen, from her 21st birthday in 1947, when she declared, “that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service.” The notion of monarch-as-servant increased as the late Queen’s reign progressed.
BY 2013, on the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation, prayers offered in Westminster Abbey in a great national service of thanksgiving developed this language very directly, giving thanks for “Her Majesty’s example of humble service; for her commitment to the needs of others; for her affectionate service of her peoples”. The Gospel reading on that occasion recounted Christ’s own ministry to serve and not to be served — the text on which the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Justin Welby, then preached.
Concluding a message to her people after the weekend of her Platinum Jubilee, our late Queen signed herself, “Your Servant, Elizabeth R”. In the King’s first address, he spoke at length of the late Queen’s life of devoted service, which His Majesty renewed for himself before promising “to serve you with loyalty, respect, and love, as I have throughout my life”.
We have become so used to this explicit language of service that we could easily underestimate it, but this kind of leadership is rooted in Jesus’s own ministry. This Jesus washed his disciples’ feet as the symbol of service. Serving others is a feature of Christian discipleship.
But we should also remember how, in the previous chapter of John’s Gospel, Jesus’s own feet have also been anointed by Mary of Bethany, before he washes those of his friends. The servant of the people is served by the people: this is a mutual relationship based on love, trust and respect. This dynamic enriches and sustains the organisation of human society. This model of Christian leadership throws a profoundly critical light over all other models. and poses questions to all other forms of leadership in our country, in this century.
Now, some might question just how much of a people’s servant the British monarch really can be, with their lives of such excessive wealth and privilege which they are clearly committed to maintain and defend.
It’s a question which Charles will try to answer, by insisting that the highest office in the land, consecrated to rule, is most fully expressed in the service of the vulnerable. The King’s passion for refugees and marginalised communities, for example, the continuing work of the Princes Trust which he established.
Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’
If we take just one thing from the liturgy of the Coronation, with its great symbolic power, let it be that opening exchange between the child and the King. Let this encourage us in our role as children of the Kingdom of God, who can welcome others in the name of the King of Kings. Let this inspire us to strengthen our service of the King of Kings in being among our neighbours as ones who serve.
Notes
[1] This talk makes substantial use of the text of Jamie Hawkey, Not to be served, but to serve, Church Times, 28 April 2023.
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